“Pepe López loved Tenerife; Garrido scares me”

In the most important book written by Luis Padilla (Santa Cruz, 1965), CD Tenerife, Centenario de una pasión, the dedication is definitive: “For those who make CD Tenerife a part of their life”. The truth is, the work that is great for me and for many others is available in bookstores and club stores and is a true tribute to a feeling. In the biography of Luis Padilla de Felipe, also published in the volume in question, it is said that he has a degree in Information Science from Complutense, has been a journalist for over thirty years, and has worked for Azul y. Blanco Communications. He is sports editor at DIARIO DE AVISOS, La Gaceta de Canarias, La Opinión de Tenerife and has written eight books on sports. However, it cannot be said that he was de facto responsible for the best sports magazine ever published in the Canary Islands and only lasted ten issues: the Argentine patented El Gráfico. It did not triumph due to the 2008 economic crisis, but its design, content and innovative idea should be announced in the classrooms of journalism faculties. Not ours, because in ours they hardly – ​​or almost never – train journalists. Here, regarding El Gráfico, I should mention two more people who collaborated on that magazine: Design geniuses José Miguel Galarza and Deli. Editor – but I didn’t care, I left everything in their blessed hands – it was me. I was once again devastated by its broadcast and gave Galarza a sigh as its ad was dropped, but it was well worth it. When sports journalism history is made in the Canary Islands, Luis Padilla should undoubtedly be in the lead, if anyone can think of it.

-How’s the sale of this Centennial book going?

“They told me that very well from the club.”

– It will be a good Christmas gift.

“I think the same”.

-How many years of work was used to bring it to a good end?

“Almost two years”.

-And how many good people have cooperated with you?

“Some and very good. Galarza brothers, you already know, they are very successful in this profession. María, the granddaughter of the great painter and the daughter of José Miguel, painted magnificent portraits of the people in the book. With this help, it was much easier.”

– Let’s get back to work. Who scares you more, the newcomer Garrido or the late Pepe López if he were alive?

“Pepe López loved Tenerife; Garrido scares me and I’m worried.”

– You can make it louder, clearer, impossible.

“Well, I’m usually honest.”

– Do you remember when stones were thrown on the field in the stadium?

“The horseshoe tribune is made of concrete. You scratched a little and pulled out a bullet from a step. And of course. Stones fell on Juan Sánchez Quintana, who was in the army and later a journalist, but who, as he told me, was a field delegate before that”.

– Ask the lineman, Guadalupe Porras, otherwise.

“No, you’re wrong, the thing about assistant Porras was that a coin hit him.”

– Have you ever played football, Luis?

“Yes, but it was very bad. They put me as the goalkeeper, which is the position played by the worst. It is because I could not find a connection between the brain and the foot”.

-Hey, I was the goalkeeper too.

“What are you going to do”.

-If there is no Tete, who are you going with?

“I’m sorry for you but I’m going with Barça. But also with Granada, because Ñito played there; and for Barça, more than Barça represented, because Juanito and Tigre Barrios played there”.

– Don’t forget Foncho.

“That’s right, Foncho played for Barça for seven seasons and scored a goal for Wales, played for the national team in Spain, almost from midfield. He’s a great player, an excellent defender.”

You said you were bad at playing. Is there no false modesty in that?

“No, I knew it was bad because I knew how to play good football, but I couldn’t.”

-Coupon. Has there been much interference in your business from the club? I am referring to the book describing the first centennial.

“Zero zero; I’m telling you the truth, and that’s greatly appreciated. We were supposed to present it on August 8, we did. It had a first circulation of 2,500 copies and about 1,000 copies have already been sold.

-You recently interviewed Valdano for a CD Tenerife programme. I was mad at him for going to Real Madrid when we needed him here. And no one can doubt my madridism.

I told Valdano about your departure, not because of your anger, and he very logically replied: “It’s very difficult to say no to Real Madrid three times.” It is true that we have never had such a good time in Tenerife as in the Valdano days.

-Messi or Maradona?

messi. And again I quote Valdano: “Messi, Maradona, but every day.”

The people you know who are important in the history of the club.

“Of course a lot, but if you get me into this predicament, I now remember the president González Carrillo, who sold Rodríguez López to the Cabildo to save Tenerife during the Galván Bello era. And Juanito was four times in 1972 to be able to play with Barrios and Cruyff for two and a half seasons. “And I believe that Miguel Concepción has done a great job, especially financially.”

-I commented for Radio Club about the match between Xuancar and Juan Padrón and one of Tete’s promotions at Benito Villamarín. Unforgettable moment.

“I was there too, enjoying the party… and working, of course.”

-Have you noticed the dire consequences that players in the sixties and seventies face today?

“That’s right. There was little expertise in traumatology, they forced players to jump on the field with injuries, nothing was fixed. Thanks to Juan Padrón, Molina underwent surgery in Barcelona so she could walk. Cabrera is lame like Luis Aragonés and Vicente Del Bosque. “It was nothing, it was a general evil. Now, thank God, everything has changed and the football player has always been in the middle of nowhere,” he said.

(Luis Padilla has Tete’s story in his head. You ask him a question and he moves with a Rolex precision. I ask him who scored the first goal in Heliodoro history. He tells me it was him.) a goalkeeper, Joaquín Pascual, but a field as a player, because one could be missing. I hurriedly got the game note, but I didn’t understand my own handwriting in such a hurry. You have to buy the book to find out. And the volume, which is a treasure, I think you can get it for 70 euros where I comment. It’s a work that will stay forever. This Christmas, to my athletic and godo son-in-law, Nacho, so that I can keep him, even though he’s very del Tete, because all my life I’ve kept the Real Madrid Gold Book that my grandfather had bought. to my father and my father gave it to me as more than a serious family act).

-We will talk about a controversial subject, the Super League.

“Probably Florentino is right. His mistake was to present it in a program like El Chiringuito, which is a somewhat successful show, not a sports arena. This was not the scenario. But the economic solution for European football will surely be the Super League,” he said.

-Are you meeting your professional expectations with this Centennial book?

“Man, I still have a lot of work to do, I still have time, but this is going to be hard to handle. It was really the book I wanted to write and a goal I set for myself. And it’s done.”

-Photos look really impressive. And very high quality. The work of Romero Lithography is also noteworthy.

“And the drawings of María Galarza. And the work of Juan Galarza, by studying all-time matches, historical records, recovering classifications, searching for data in newspaper libraries and contributing with a rich archive of photographs. And who is also a photographer and has helped us a lot with his legacy. “The collaboration of the family of ex-president Pepe López. And the work of José Miguel Galarza, who brilliantly edited all the material. No, the book is not just mine, but many others, including Litografía Romero of course. But if I named all of them, they wouldn’t fit in the interview.”

-What do you think is the most memorable of Tenerife’s works?

Look, I understand that a 3-2 against Real Madrid was a lot more valuable than a 2-0 against Madrid again the following year, maybe because of how exciting it was, what got the fans excited. He gave us UEFA. There are unforgettable matches and 3-2 was one of them,” he said.

-You are in love with football. I think you will have access to a remarkable bibliography.

“Well, yes, we buy everything that comes out of football in the company: Valdano, Eduardo Galeano, Relaño, I admire them and many more for their contribution to this sport and their wisdom in writing about business football. When Relaño saw the Centennial book, all clubs with history He said that he had to order such a book and that it was the best book he had ever seen.

-A nice compliment from the person who came.

“Of course I value that a lot.”

-Luis, it’s a concern. Regional football is over.

“Unfortunately, years ago, he got into an audience crisis. Now, only the girlfriends and parents of the football players go to the matches. Those of us who are a few years old remember the matches between Puerto Cruz and Real Unión, or between Toscal and Unión, or between Ciprés and Puerto Cruz, the Heliodoro Cup finals, or the promotion matches for regional teams. Crowds gathered.”

(In the Centennial book, I see a photo with Peñón del Fraile from Puerto completely covered in the audience, to witness, I don’t know if it was a Puerto Cruz-Silense that led the team led by my father to the promotion to First Place in the Regional Category to Luis, some Ranillera when the team lost at home I commented along with some obscene customs practiced by his wives, I won’t give details for the account that brought it to me).

– Congratulations again on this book, my friend. Anyone would want to write.

“Thanks, I have already said that this is a goal I want to achieve and that we have achieved it. As far as I can see, 2,500 copies are on the right track to do justice to a century-old club, as well as to be in the hands of the fans, which is the goal.

(When Luis Padilla was interviewed, the news that Heliodoro could be demolished to make room for a new stadium inside or outside Santa Cruz didn’t immediately jump out. We didn’t discuss the subject. But here it remains the debate. Is it really necessary? is it another stadium or the all-existing one? to reform once again? I don’t know. Decide for yourself).